Weaving the Western Web: explaining differences in Internet connectivity among OECD countries

Despite the Internet's increasing importance, there is little social scient ific work that addresses its diffusion. Our knowledge is especially limited with respect to the conditions that encourage its spread across nations. T his paper takes a first step in explaining the differences in Internet conn ectivity among OECD countries. After examining the impact of economic indic ators, human capital, institutional legal environment, and existing technol ogical infrastructure, the empirical analyses show that economic wealth and telecommunications policy are the most salient predictors of a nation's In ternet connectivity. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.